Faingaa starts for Brumbies in clash with Blues

The Brumbies have made one change to the team that lost to the Waratahs for this week's Super Rugby match with the Blues in Auckland.

George Smith was ruled out with a strained medial ligament and has been replaced by Colby Faingaa in the starting side and Jordan Smiler comes onto the bench.

Pat McCabe's knee injury has also cleared room on the bench, with Clyde Rathbone making his first appearance for more than a month.

"The players are aware of how important a win in Auckland is for the club heading into the tail end of the season and we will be working hard to regain some of the momentum we had in the early parts of the season," Head Coach Jake White said.

"Colby has been on the radar as one of Australia's best young talents for a couple of years now and we have full faith in him to have a big game this weekend. It's nice to be able to present him with this opportunity.

"When you look at our bench, to be bringing a guy like Clyde on is quite comforting because he has plenty of experience playing in big games against quality opposition. The Blues have been one of the standout teams in 2013 and it's a tough assignment to go over there and knock them off."

The 2012 match against the Blues was a heartbreaker for the Brumbies, going down without a bonus point to miss a finals spot to the Reds.

While that game has been forgotten, the Brumbies will be focussed on securing a win on the road to ensure they are not in a similar position in three week's time.

The last time the Brumbies played in Auckland the home team managed to squeeze a narrow win, 39-34.